The Diversion Strategy

I want to be a well-balanced person and it is my contention that such a person must be multi-faceted, a person who can divert or stray from those things that normally captivate his or her attention.  A diversion “diverts the mind from tedious or serious concerns.” A diversion is turning aside from the regular course (a rerouting, redirection, deflection, or deviation).  The word is used by the British as “an alternative route for use by traffic when the usual road is temporarily closed; a detour,” a bypass, or a deviation.

Yesterday I deviated from my typical tantrums on the social and political scene, redirected my daily schedule, deflected from my usual routines, and rerouted all important duties of the day in order to watch the NFC and AFC Football Playoffs.  For nearly seven hours I lounged in my recliner watching, cheering, cajoling, and rooting for the modern-day gladiators in their humungous and expensive coliseums in Pittsburgh and Minneapolis.  The Vikings/Saints game was a nail-biter right up to the last second. I was a fully engaged spectator and all those deep thoughts and serious concerns that had irked and burdened my spirit earlier in the day were deadened by this total and complete diversion.  By the way, the first “Super Bowl” took place fifty-one years ago today.

Are our modern gladiator games in humungous and ostentatious coliseums a manipulation strategy?  Are we as a people diverted, deflected, redirected, rerouted from the more serious issues of our time to the gladiator games?  Is not this strategy being used by Mr. Trump and his Administration—divert, deflect, redirect, reroute, deviate?  Norm Chomsky describes such a strategy: “Keep the adult public attention diverted away from the real social issues, and captive by matters of no real importance.”  Very serious and important things are going on, but Mr. Trump almost daily throws out another meaningless football for the media and the public to fixate on and kick around and around.  He and his team are not inept, nor are they stupid.  They know what they are doing.

We ought to be well-balanced persons who can stray or deviate from the serious issues of our time on occasion and enjoy a good football game.  But we must beware of allowing  our culture, our society, our institutions and corporations, and our government (the “Principalities and the Powers”) from using the manipulative strategy of diversion to keep us blindsided and ignorant of what is going on in real time.

Be engaged...not distracted.
Pay attention--not diverted.